Five passengers survive plane crash near Machadodorp, Mpumalanga

Victims of the crash sustained severe burn wounds and were rushed to Middelburg's MidMed burn unit.

A Cessna 206 plane, carrying five passengers, crashed near Machadodorp in Mpumalanga, along the Elandshoek Road on Thursday afternoon, 29 November.

As reported by the Lowvelder, the passengers escaped the plane, fully engulfed in flames, and made it the side of the road where farm workers found them.

They reported the matter to their supervisor, who in turn notified the authorities and emergency services. All five passengers reportedly survived the crash and were transported to Middelburg’s MidMed burn unit.

Kabelo Ledwaba from the SA Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that one of the passengers sustained burn wounds over more than 95% of their body.

The plane was owned by Bushpilot Adventures, a company that facilitates self-fly safaris across Southern Africa. According to the company website, they offer guided tours as well but experienced pilots may set off on their own.

A statement has not been released as yet but netizens are speculating that “it looks like a classic ‘stall and spin’ wreckage pattern,” according to Facebook user Thys Goosen. Bert Sousa said: “That prop may say it wasn’t ground and round by the looks of the one blade.” He added:

“Gonna take more than Duct tape to fix that one. I was shocked to hear ‘Survivors.’ That was a baddie for sure.”

We reached out the SACAA investigator-on-call who confirmed that his team is still on the scene and updates will be given once their investigation concludes. He also confirmed that the five passengers sustained severe burns and are receiving emergency treatment but he could not comment on the extent of their injuries at this time.

Image credit: Lowvelder

The story is still developing and we will provide updates as and when they become available.